Supervisors are critical to the success of farm businesses. They have a major impact both on employees' daily work experiences and on the production performance of the business. The Agricultural Supervisory Leadership certificate helps farm supervisors and managers learn and apply human resource management practices and leadership skills that foster rewarding workplaces and drive business results. Confident managers who thoughtfully apply leadership and management skills improve employee performance, develop teams, reduce employee turnover, and increase employee engagement. The courses within the certificate program will offer extensive practice and engagement activities to build confidence and skill sets.

This course, Managing Performance, will help farm managers learn to harness the power of performance feedback and coaching. In this class we will cover building clear and effective workplace communications, setting safety expectations and conducting effective performance improvements. Materials will release November 10, 2021 and live weekly Zoom discussions will be held from 3 to 4 PM EDT each Tuesday from November 16 through December 21. Participation in the live sessions is highly encouraged and provides a valued opportunity for peer to peer learning and networking.

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Each course includes up to six weeks of instruction on topics that will build your leadership and management skills. Instruction includes a combination of prerecorded lectures, reading assignments, written exercises, live discussion sessions and quizzes. For those looking to learn more on a particular topic, supplemental videos and articles may be recommended by the instructor. To get the most out of the course, students should plan to spend two to four hours each week on combined course activities.

Courses in the Agricultural Supervisory Leadership certificate include:

1. Transitioning to Supervisor: Develop essential communication skills and manage conflict. Lead a multi-cultural team. Build an effective workplace culture.
2. Organizing Work for High Quality Results: Develop clear expectations and standard operating procedures. Delegate effectively. Diagnose and correct performance problems.
3. Managing Performance: Understand motivation. Harness the power of performance feedback and coaching. Build clear and effective workplace communications. Set safety expectations. Conduct effective performance improvements.
4. Ethics and Employment Regulations for Supervisors: Implement responsible and ethical labor practices and understand why this matters for agriculture. Recognize and prevent sexual harassment. Understand and follow minimum wage and overtime laws. Implement Equal Employment Opportunity laws to prevent discrimination and harassment. Use an employee handbook. Handle employee discipline and termination.
5. Becoming an Effective Trainer: Identify training needs. Understand learning styles. Design and plan learning experiences that accommodate learner needs. Develop effective training skills and techniques. Evaluate learning results and training effectiveness.
6. Staffing and Organizing Your Team: Develop job descriptions. Learn how to find potential employees, interview, and select the right people. Implement new hire documentation, employment authorization, and onboarding: bringing new employees into the business successfully and productively.

For questions, contact Rachel McCarthy, Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program Coordinator, at rachel.mccarthy@cornell.edu.